N O I S S U C CON
BY TERRI MILNER TARQUINI
A
t the 2017 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, defending gold medalist pairs team Tarah Kayne and Danny O’Shea withdrew from the free skate after Kayne fell in the short program and was diagnosed with a concussion. It was a clear message that the views regarding the seriousness of concussions in figure skating had evolved. “The protocol for on-ice medical emergencies was developed after the Cup of China with the collision of Yuzuru Hanyu,” said Dr. Ellen Geminiani, primary sport doctor at Boston Children’s Hospital and chair of the sports science and medicine committee for U.S. Figure Skating. “Things were not ideally handled and we wanted a totally different approach.” In 2014, on warm-up, Japan’s Hanyu, the 2014 Olympic champion,
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collided with China’s Han Yan. Both skaters were lying on the ice for a somewhat extended period of time before being helped off. Ultimately, Hanyu, bleeding from his chin and appearing dazed and gesturing to his head, resumed warm-up and competed with his head wrapped, falling five times in his program. A vivid catalyst, what’s changed within figure skating has been a protocol that more efficiently deals with such situations. It’s in keeping with what the greater medical field has discovered: concussions are serious and they need to be dealt with as such. “Diagnosis is one part of the concussion and it’s important for coaches or officials to know the signs,” Geminiani said. “But determining if it is safe for an athlete to return to the ice is the big part of the equation. A concussion
means something is happening with the brain and we need to take that very, very seriously.” In the competitive arena, ideally, a skater with a suspected concussion is immediately seen by a medical professional, but not all competitions, especially at the local level, have medical coverage. “We are educating referees as to what to look for and what the CDC international standards are with regards to concussions,” said Geminiani, a figure skater who trained under Gus Lussi and Howard Nicholson. “If no medical personnel are available at an event, then the referee evaluates and makes the call. Even if the athlete refuses to withdraw, the referee can decide to remove the athlete from the event.” The likelihood of concussion is higher, however, in a day-to-day practice environment, which is why the